A Path Forward? Adapting the Gothic, part II
“the purpose of the Gothic form is to draw the viewer into the Christian story.” Art fulfills a function. That function changes with the needs of society and culture in any given time period. In reviving the Gothic form for today we need to make sure that whatever we doContinue Reading
How We Overcome Every Difficulty
“Every difficulty we encounter in our lives, is either sent by God or permitted by Him for our benefit.” David and Goliath David cried out, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?” David was just a boy. He was not yet oldContinue Reading
What is Needed? Adapting the Gothic, part I
“If we are to make the Gothic artform relevant to today’s faithful we have to start with what is needed.” Copy or Adapt? Reviving the Gothic artform to meet the needs of the Church today is somewhat more complicated than it initially appears. We do not want to simply copyContinue Reading
Edmund Campion and Anthony Munday
“the truth that makes men free is for the most part the truth which men prefer not to hear.” Sometime around the year 1578, a man presented himself to the rector of the English College in Rome. The man gave his credentials and lineage, citing as his father a notedContinue Reading
From the Iconographic to the Gothic
“To enter a Gothic church was to enter into salvation history.” The Iconographic In the first half of the 20th century a Russian artist was having a conversation with a friend about traditional sacred art, what we would today call iconography. The two great centers of this type of artContinue Reading
Remember Who You Are
“Knowing who we are in God’s eyes can give us a tremendous sense of inner peace and strength.” Father Vincent Capodanno Father Vincent Capodanno, a Maryknoll Missionary, served as a marine chaplain during the Vietnam War. Lt. Joseph E. Pilon, MD, gives us an eyewitness account of “the grunt padre’s”Continue Reading
Vanity and a $120,000 Banana
“Vanity of vanities, all things are vanity!” (Ecclesiastes 1:2) In our post-enlightenment, post-Christian world, artists and artisans are perhaps most susceptible to vanity. The message for more than a hundred years now has been that society values the artist who stays true to their personal vision. To support this weContinue Reading
This Is What Is Important
“In the sight of God it is not the quantity of our assets that is important but the quality of our being.” One of the most difficult things for us to do is to maintain a certain detachment from the world we live in. Popular culture is increasingly secular andContinue Reading
What Does the Artwork Mean?
“a work of art may speak deeply to the heart of an individual” The Abbey in the Oakwood As artists, how do we convey timeless religious themes to an audience that has largely forsaken religion for the vague notion of spirituality? How do we render Christian images of faith andContinue Reading
Perseverance and Confidence
“True victory comes with perseverance and confidence in God’s goodness” The 1959 film, “A Dog of Flanders” is a lesson in persistence through adversity. (I don’t know if a “***spoiler warning***” is necessary for a 50 year old movie based on an even older novel, but consider yourself warned.)The storyContinue Reading